help me! walking.

DeeSpark

Ok so I'm trying to get Sparky to get over his dog aggression. So I've been giving him treats whenever we go past another dog. Kind of distracting him. You know that little technique? Anyway we've only been doing it for 2 days and it was going ok. But the last dog... Well it ran over to us. Sparky wasn't quite ready for that yet. He went crazy at it. I couldn't distract him with treats and just had to pull him away. *sigh* atleast one good thing, the other dog never reacted. It ran over to us and sniffed him. Then when Sparky went crazy the other dog kept following us and trying to sniff him. I wanted to stop and try and get Sparky to be calm, but the dog kept getting close. And I didn't want Sparky to bite it. But yeah, the other dog didn't join in and try and go for him. He was just nice and calm. So atleast it didn't reinforce sparkys 'all these dogs want to kill me' thing. Actually the dog running up to him probably was enough to do this.

Anyway he hasn't quite figured out that he's getting the treats for being around the dogs, not just for walking. So he will just stop looking at me hoping for treats. Then if I take a step towards him he lies down or sits (my most used commands. he automatically does it when I bring out the treats). So I'm not quite sure what to do when he stops. I don't want to use treats because that might reinforce the behaviour. And I don't want to tug him or drag him (especially when he has a collar around his neck. I don't really want to choke him). So do I just stand by him and do nothing until he realises his not getting a treat, then continue?

ixmahr42

I have a 12 year old Beagle named Jerry that was a nightmare to walk. He wasn't aggressive, but he kept pulling on the leash non-stop. He would actually choke himself and start coughing and doing some strage noises with his back legs spread out, like he was choking. I decided to hire a trainer and it helped a lot. At first I dindn`t like it, because the trainer would pull hard on the leash to keep Jerry next to him, and I thought he was hurting him. Then I realized that it wasn't that bad, and that what Jerry was doing to himself by pulling so hard on the leash when we walked, was actually a lot worse. The trainer didn't use a choke collar or anything like that, he used a regular collar and leash and would place the collar right behind Jerry's jaw (kind of like between the jaw and the throat) and pull firmly upwards (not necessarly very hard but firm.) He would use a command like "walk" for example, and walk with the dog trying to maintain it right next to him. If the dog tried to get ahead of him, he would say "no" and pull firmly on the leash always kind of upwards. The size of my dog helped, no doubt, but it should work fine with other dogs. He did not use treats just praise. Anyway, try to be consistent and practice this for half an hour every day. At first it will be difficult, even frustrating. However, with time your dog should learn to walk always by your side. After a while, you can practice inside the house without the leash. Anyway this got long , good luck!

fawkese1

it is really important in situations like this that you not take sparky to places where other dogs can run up to him like that... every time that happens, he goes over threshold, not only does that make it so that he cannot learn in that moment, but it also makes it so that he will be more likely to go over threshold again, at less... when a dog goes over threshold, hormones are released into their system, and it takes several days for hormone levels to get back to "normal"
i know, from my own experience, that it is difficult to find places where a dog won't be able to run up to you like that...but i would recommend that you try to be as vigilant as possible of dogs like this... if you do approach/are approached by a dog like this, i would get out of the situation as fast, and uneventfully as possible, but the key is to avoid getting into it in the first place. if he takes treats, i would give them to him, trust me, when he is over his threshold the last thing he is going to think about is how to earn a treat.

Tess

Fawkese1
That was the most AMAZING thing I ever saw! And its so simple! I had to see that video to understand the concept so well. Thank you!!!

pawzaddict

To add onto fawkese post...it is really your responsibility to not allow another dog to approach you. I have shooed off dogs and not "politely". I step at and raiose my voice to dogs wandering with a "hey! Back off!" Anything you say will scare them off. You have to show your dog that YOU will take charge and protect him. This is not a dominance thing, this is simply doing the job so your dog doesn't have to.
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kmes

Fawkese, I LOVED that video!!!! Good advice!

DeeSpark

Thank you for the advice! I didn't really expect the dog. It was on it's leash and ran off from its owner. Sparky wouldn't take the treats when the dog got close. Next time I'll take charge. Thanks again! Awesome video!

pawzaddict

Ah ok, in that case next time do not be afraid to tell the owner to get their dog asap. If a dog continues to approach a dog that is unsure (your dog is unsure and uncomfy) then that other dog (the one whose owner lacks common sense ) has no clue on how to communicate and needs to be removed immediately from your dog. I have a dog who reacts ONLY to other dogs who are not properly communicating

DeeSpark

Ok cool. So I can stamp my feet and let all my frustration out in front of it until it's so scared it runs for the hills. I hate the dogs owner. creepy old rapist who is now hitting on my friend. But anyway. What about when he stops and waits for a treat. Is the right thing to do just stopping, waiting a moment, then continue on? or give him a good tug? I'm not the greatest dog trainer.... and my parents would never hire a dog trainer anyway...

fawkese1

not sure what you mean? like the dog is fixating on the treats to the point where he stops walking? or when you are giving him a treat he stops? if the first, you need to move your treat pouch or what ever so that he cannot stare at it anymore, if the latter, i would pause a sec to give him the treat then say "let's go" in a chipper voice and continue... i would not give him a "good tug" as he may find it very unpleasant and it would counter all the hard work you've been doing